Policy: Tuition Scholarship/Reimbursement Policy for Support Staff Excluded from Bargaining Units

Effective

April 1, 2005 - Amends Tuition Scholarship/Reimbursement Policy dated April 1, 1999 (which replaced Tuition Waiver / Tuition Reimbursement Policy dated September 1, 1994).

Authority

President

Purpose

The University intends to provide a vibrant learning environment for employees as well as students and to encourage employees to pursue post-secondary education. One of the ways in which this can happen is through financial support of employees’ tuition costs.

This policy establishes the eligibility criteria for receiving a tuition scholarship or for receiving a reimbursement of 50% of tuition costs for credit or non-credit courses under specific circumstances.

Scope

This policy applies to all University support staff who are excluded from bargaining units.

Responsibility

The Director of Awards and Financial Aid and the Executive Director of Human Resources are jointly responsible for the communication, administration, and interpretation of this policy.

Policy

The University of Winnipeg will establish and maintain a University Tuition Scholarship Fund to which all eligible University employees, their spouses and their eligible dependents may apply for financial support. Tuition scholarships are awarded in June and August of each year.

A tuition scholarship shall be payable for each credit course on which an eligible applicant has achieved a grade of C or better for an undergraduate course and a grade of C+ or better for a graduate course provided that all other criteria for the specific scholarship are met.

The amount of the tuition scholarship in all cases shall be based on an undergraduate course tuition fee amount less the supplementary course service fees and the athletic service fees, before the all-inclusive tuition fee structure was introduced.

An employee who is taking a final examination for a course that is eligible for a tuition scholarship shall be provided with a paid leave of absence on the examination day. An eligible employee who works part-time shall receive paid leave for those hours that they would have worked provided that the hours of work have been in place for at least six months prior to the date of the examination.

Eligible employees may apply for tuition scholarship/reimbursement benefits while on leave of absence with pay, maternity/adoption leave, lay-off or Long Term Disability.

An applicant must meet the eligibility requirements as at the first day of classes for the academic term for which the applicant intends to apply for the tuition benefit.

A. Tuition Scholarships for courses leading to an undergraduate degree

Tuition scholarship under this provision applies solely to the minimum number of credit courses leading to an undergraduate degree conferred by The University of Winnipeg. The minimum number of credit courses is the minimum number established by Senate regulations. The University of Winnipeg Bachelor of Education degree shall be considered as a first undergraduate degree.

Potential applicants under this provision are required to register for courses at the University of Winnipeg and pay all fees according to the University's normal schedule of fees and associated deadlines.

An eligible employee shall be defined as someone who has successfully completed their probation period and is either:

A full-time continuing employee, or
A part-time continuing employee whose hours of work are fixed at 50% or more of the standard work week, or
A full-time employee with a term appointment of two or more years, or
A full-time, continuing sessional employee whose annual term of appointment is expected to last for a minimum of eight months.

An eligible spouse is a spouse or common law spouse as declared by an eligible employee for other University benefit purposes.

An eligible dependent shall be a natural child or a legally adopted child or a stepchild of an eligible employee, who is either:

Unmarried and under the age of 21 and dependent on the employee for support, or
Unmarried and under the age of twenty-five (25) and a full-time student of The University of Winnipeg.

The age restrictions do not apply to a physically or mentally incapacitated child.

Only the person who has taken the course may apply for the tuition scholarship. Applications shall be made through the Awards and Financial Aid Office.

B. Supplementary Tuition Scholarship Benefits

Supplementary tuition scholarship benefits, equivalent in amount to the regular tuition scholarship benefit, are provided to eligible employees only, as defined in (A) above, who meet the following criteria:

Achieve Grade C or better on a credit course that is beyond the minimum number of courses required for an undergraduate degree, and
Take the credit course on personal time outside of their scheduled hours of work (except as part of modified work week arrangements), and
Register for the course after regular registration has taken place

Achieve Grade C+ or better on a credit course within a program leading to a graduate degree conferred by The University of Winnipeg. The maximum number of courses eligible for supplementary tuition scholarship support shall be the minimum number of courses [or course requirements] needed to complete the graduate degree.

C. Tuition Reimbursement Benefit

An eligible employee, as defined under (A) above, shall qualify for the following benefits:

a) reimbursement of 50% of tuition fees upon successful completion of any non-credit course offered by The University of Winnipeg Continuing Education Division; and

b) a reimbursement of 50% of tuition fees upon completion, with a grade of C or better on any credit course or satisfactory completion of a non-credit course offered by another post-secondary institution, provided that:

The course is job- related as agreed upon by the Human Resources Department in consultation with the employee and his/her immediate supervisor, or
In the event that the parties are not in agreement as to whether the course is related to the employee’s current position, as approved by the appropriate Vice-President, and
The course is not offered at The University of Winnipeg.

The tuition reimbursement benefits provided in a) and b) above shall be pro-rated for part-time, regular or sessional employee as defined earlier in this policy.

In the event that an employee’s employment is discontinued during the time that the employee is taking an eligible course under this provision, the employee shall remain eligible to receive the tuition reimbursement upon satisfactory completion of the course.

Procedures

The tuition scholarship amount will be shown on the application form that is available from the Awards and Financial Aid Office, Human Resources, or on the university web-site at hr.uwinnipeg.ca. under “Forms and Seniority Lists”.

An application for a Tuition Scholarship must be submitted to Awards and Financial Aid no later than 30 days after the final date of examinations for the relevant academic session. Applicants in pursuit of a Masters degree must present their official transcript to the Awards and Financial Aid office in order to have their application assessed.

Tuition scholarships are disbursed in June and August of each academic year.

An application for Tuition Reimbursement must be made through the Benefits Assistant in Human Resources prior to course registration using the application form provided on the University web-site at: hr.uwinnipeg.ca. under the “Forms and Seniority Lists” section. Paper copies of the application form are available from Human Resources.

A T4 form will be issued in the amount of the total tuition reimbursement benefit to the employee receiving the benefit. A T4A will be issued to the recipient of a tuition scholarship.